[NI0849]
Elder brother to Robert. Accumulated a fortune of 100,000 pounds which he and his brother Thomas took care none of the poet's (Robert Southey) family should ever enjoy. "Southey's poem written after his uncle's death, expresses the bitterness he felt at the indifference, if not hostility, that John Southey showed towards his brother's orphaned children."
source: New Letters of Robert Southey Vol. I, p. 9 by Kenneth Curry.